


There’s A Good Reason We're Under The Mistletoe Honey, You Just Haven’t Thought Of It Yet

by ceiling_stars



Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: (oops spoilers), (until it actually gets resolved), Christmas, Dorks, Fluff, Frank is actually not a douchebag, Gerard is an oblivious fuck, M/M, Secret Crush, Some Very Cheesy Tropes, Teacher AU, Unresolved Tension, so cheesy i could sell a thousand pounds of brie and get rich
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-05 09:50:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5370830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceiling_stars/pseuds/ceiling_stars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Mikey. Mikeymikeymikey," Gerard says, flopping down on the couch with his phone.<br/>"Mm-hm," Mikey says. "Anything else?"<br/>"Mikey," Gerard repeats for good measure. "I'm screwed. What the fuck."<br/>There's a silence on Mikey's end.<br/>"What did Frank do now," he sighs finally.<br/>-</p><p>Christmas teacher!fic, featuring horribly cliche fanfic tropes to suit your holiday Frerard needs.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	There’s A Good Reason We're Under The Mistletoe Honey, You Just Haven’t Thought Of It Yet

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me in the middle of class (how fitting) and suddenly I needed to write up some mushy Teacher AU.  
> Title's a play on P!ATD's song, 'There’s A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven’t Thought Of It Yet'.
> 
> And, be warned: I have payed zero attention to geographical accuracy in this fic. Hopefully I can distract you with a bunch of fluff \o/
> 
> P.S. I was aiming to post this on Christmas, but that didn't happen, haha. It's here now!

Gerard watches out the window as the bus takes a turn to drive onto the ramp to the highway, the sound of the road under the tires filling his ears.  
He fiddles with the volume of his music, trying to find another song to listen to. Gerard doesn't even know why he's doing it- he isn't really in the mood for music right now. What he _is_ in the mood for, however, is to be back home. Off the highway, back in bed.  
Instead he's heading away from home, towards his new job in a new school in a new city- and the sun isn't even _up_ yet, excuse him for not wanting to be here- and, to top it all off, he's alone.  
Mikey had insisted that it would be good for Gerard to go new places, and yet _he's_ staying at home. The little fucker.  
Gerard tells him as much after he's fumbled with his phone and dialled Mikey's number.  
"You little fucker," he says as soon as Mikey picks up. It feels good, at least, to let that out.  
"I could say the same to you, asshole," Mikey replies, but it's with fondness. "Why the fuck are you calling me now? It's, like, the middle of the night."  
"It's five in the morning," Gerard corrects him. "And I wouldn't be calling you if you didn't kick me out, so deal with it."  
"I didn't _kick you out_ ," says Mikey, as if he hasn't said it a thousand times already. "You got a job offer. You are taking the job. Don't make me sound like I'm dumping you out into the street."  
Gerard rolls his eyes, but he's smiling. "If I die out there, it's your fault."  
"I accept full responsibility," Mikey deadpans, his voice familiar in Gerard's ear, and suddenly his morning doesn't seem so shitty anymore.

*

Gerard has the weekend to move into his apartment, but it only takes him around an hour to get moved in. He packed lightly, he's only staying here for around a year, anyway: he's the stand-in for the art teacher who's currently away on maternity leave. It was the school that had contacted Gerard, saying that they had seen some of his work and asking him if he was interested in a teaching position for a grade four art class, and, well. Mikey basically forced him into it.  
_Maybe, though,_ Gerard thinks as he looks around his apartment, _it isn't gonna be so bad._

Once he's got all his essentials up and running (that is, the coffee machine, his laptop, and phone charger), he opens his email to look at his teacher's schedule. He has the first period of every other day free, which makes him do an internal fist pump. Apparently the kids in his class are in the middle of an art project, something about snowflakes. _Cute_ , Gerard thinks.  
He keeps reading and sees a note at the bottom of his schedule.

_Monitoring duties with Mr. Iero, 5th and 6th periods, Dec. 19 (Pre-Winter Break Dance, grades 4 & 5.)_

Gerard makes a 'huh' sound and takes a sip of his coffee. _Iero_ , he thinks as he looks for the email titled "Meet the Staff", complete with short bio's and photos.  
He scrolls through, past Mr. Brendon Urie and Ms. Lindsey Ballato, stopping when he gets to Mr. Frank Iero.  
At which point he freezes with his coffee cup halfway to his lips.  
Because, wow, _okay_. It turns out Mr. Frank Iero ( _'English teacher'_ , the email supplies helpfully), is, well. Fucking attractive.  
"Huh," Gerard says again into his coffee. 

*

The school is actually at a pretty cool location, Gerard has to admit. It's far enough into the city that there are coffee shops and comic book stores to be found, yet not enough to be caught in the huge crowd that comes along with rush hour every morning.  
Gerard's classroom is already set up from when the previous teacher was there ( _"Supplies are in the back cupboards!"_ yesterday's email had told him), so his first look at the school is also his first actual _day_ where he has to help kids paint with glitter (fun) and meet the rest of the teachers (shit).  
He gets there early, letting himself into the classroom and looking around. The walls, painted a light blue, are covered in the student's artwork, and Gerard smiles. There's a note on the desk that says, "Welcome!" and underneath there are little notes and signatures from the teachers, all of them some kind of variation of "glad to have you here", and it makes Gerard feel a little bit better despite his nervousness.  
There's a knock on his open door and Gerard looks up.  
"Hey," says a guy Gerard recognizes as Brendon (it's not like he was _studying_ or anything). Brendon's giving him a warm smile that Gerard can't help but return, and beside him is the Science teacher, Lindsey.  
"Hi," Gerard replies. "Uh. I'm Gerard." It comes out as an almost-question, making Gerard inwardly cringe, but they don't seem to notice.  
"The new guy," Lindsey says, but it sounds friendly, not taunting. "Don't worry, you won't be the New Guy for long. I'm Lindsey," she adds when she shakes Gerard's hand.  
"Brendon," says Brendon, shaking Gerard's hand after Lindsey. "I'm the music teacher. Lindsey's science."  
Gerard nods, not really knowing what to say.  
"Nervous?" Lindsey asks, a sympathetic smile on her face.  
Gerard ducks his head. "Yeah, kinda," he says, putting his hands in his pockets.  
"No worries, man," Brendon says. "Everyone here is super chill. And the kids are great. You'll fit in just fine."  
Gerard looks up and gives them both a smile, his anxiety starting to slip away slightly.  
"Come on," Lindsey says, "We've got time to give you a tour of the school."  
And just like that, Gerard manages to make two friends.

"Younger grades are all on the first floor, which is where you'll find Lindsey and Mrs. Wellington," Brendon says as they walk down the hall.  
"You're not on first-name basis with Mrs. Wellington?" Gerard asks.  
"Ehh... She's kinda... bitter," Lindsey replies. "I honestly don't know why she chose to become a teacher- she doesn't like people in general. She's retiring this year, though."  
"Really? _Finally_ ," Brendon says. "Wait, what- I mean, that's a bummer," he hurries to add right after, looking around the hallway to check if anyone heard him.  
Gerard finds himself giggling- Brendon's actually pretty cute, he thinks as they turn a corner.  
Next thing he knows, Gerard is running right into something wearing a white shirt, an " _oof_ " sound coming from somewhere in the collision, followed by the rustle of papers falling to the floor.  
"Oh, crap, I'm sorry," Gerard starts saying as he steps back to see what exactly he's crashed into, and- oh. _Oh._ It's that English teacher, who's name has escaped Gerard's mind for the moment, along with any other coherent thought.  
"Oh," he says dumbly. Hot English Teacher is currently kneeling down and picking up his papers, not really acknowledging Gerard, almost as if he didn't notice him standing there. Except, well, for the fact that Gerard almost knocked the guy over. _That was quite idiotic of me,_ Gerard thinks distantly.  
He realizes he's been staring instead of helping Hot English Teacher pick up his papers, further confirming Gerard's amazing ability to act like an idiot.  
"Sorry," Gerard says again, and he kneels down to help, blushing furiously, but Hot English Teacher is, of course, done by now and is standing back up without a word.  
"Don't worry about it," Hot English Teacher says- well, it was more of a mumble- before he dodges Gerard and turns the corner, leaving Gerard standing there in awe. He's acutely aware of Brendon and Lindsey giggling at him.  
"Um." Gerard clears his throat. "That was..."  
" _Hilarious_ ," Lindsey finishes, Brendon still chuckling behind her. "That was Frank, he's not usually like that," she says before collapsing into more giggles. Gerard glares at her.  
"Yeah, he's probably just in a rush or something- Gerard, man, you okay? It's not a big deal, you can meet him properly later," Brendon adds, trying to meet Gerard's eyes.  
"I know, I just.." Gerard says, running his hands over his face. "I just made the greatest first impression _ever_ , right? He barely even looked at me."  
Lindsey sobers up and puts a hand on Gerard's shoulder reassuringly. "He's a really cool guy, Gerard, he won't care that you accidentally bumped into him. Just reintroduce yourself, and it'll be fine."  
Gerard nods. It's cool, he's cool. Whatever.  
They continue showing Gerard around, and he (mostly) forgets about hot teachers. He's more careful turning corners this time, though.

*

Gerard's first few classes prove to be much better than he expected- the kids are sweet and funny, and they smile when he makes dumb winter puns ("I bet you're all _cooler_ than any snowflake out there!"). By lunch, he's run out of instruction sheets for the next class, so he uses his free time to go to the photocopy room, breathing a sigh of relief when he finds it empty.  
He puts the sheet on the copier, presses the copy button, and waits.  
...And waits.  
"Come on," Gerard mutters under his breath, pressing the button again. The copier doesn't do anything.  
Gerard gives it a slight thump, but all the copier does is make a pitiful sound, like Gerard's offended it or something. He sighs and tries pressing the button again, but no dice.  
"It's kind of mesmerizing to watch you do that," comes a voice from behind him, making Gerard jump. He turns around, startled.  
"You're so bad at it," Hot English Teacher says.  
"Um," Gerard says. Was that a joke? Is Gerard supposed to laugh?  
"Looks like it's broken," Hot English Teacher continues.  
"I know," Gerard manages to mutter. He gives himself a mental slap for blushing.  
Hot English Teacher- _Frank,_ Gerard remembers, smirks and leans against the wall, watching as Gerard attempts to push a few more buttons. He's painfully aware of the silence in the room.  
Gerard clears his throat. "Do you wanna, um. Help, or...?"  
Frank's smirk gets wider. "Hm, I dunno. I think you got this," he says with a wink.  
Great. Fucking great. It's just his luck that the hot teacher is really a douchebag, a douchebag that happens to look _really good_ when he winks, what the _fuck_.  
Gerard glares at the copier for a second before thinking _fuck it_ and making to get out of the room. He can make do without the stupid instruction sheets, anyway, fuck making a good impression.  
"Hey," Frank starts softly. "Hey," he says again, moving away from the wall and putting a hand on Gerard's arm. Gerard looks down at it, not knowing what to say.  
Frank clears his throat and lets go of Gerard.  
"Look, I'm sorry, I- That was rude of me," Frank tells him, his words rushed.  
He finds himself needing a moment to breathe, because of course the hot douchebag turns out to be nice.  
"First week is always shit," Frank says when Gerard stays quiet, thankfully snapping him out of it.  
"I'm fine, I just. Um. It's okay. Thanks?" He manages, his sentence breaking up when he meets Frank's eyes. "I'm just gonna, uh..." He motions to the door.  
"Wait," Frank says. "Don't leave, I'll call Ray over, he's the guy that always fixes it anyway. I don't know shit about this stuff."  
Gerard is, to say the least, dumbfounded. What the _fuck_.  
Before he has the chance to further embarrass himself, however, the copier comes back from the dead, spitting out copies of Gerard's papers at full speed.  
"Oh," he says intelligently, and Frank giggles ( _giggles!_ ) as Gerard picks up his papers.  
Gerard looks at Frank, about to say something along the lines of _thank you,_ even though Frank didn't do shit, but Frank beats him to it.  
"I think," Frank says, meeting Gerard's eyes, "We got off to a bad start."  
Gerard raises his eyebrows. Frank giggles again. "And," he continues, "I think we can be friends."  
"Friends," Gerard repeats. _Hot douchebag-that-isn't-actually-a-douchebag wants to be friends._  
"Okay," he says. Friends. He can do friends. Frank's face lights up, and it's actually kind of beautiful, which isn't good if Gerard wants to be _just friends_ with this guy.  
"Frank," Frank says, extending his hand towards Gerard.  
He takes it, saying, "Hi. Uh, I mean, I'm Gerard."  
Frank smiles and Gerard has to look down to hide the blush he knows is on his face. He lets go of Frank's hand and nervously fiddles with the corners of his papers.  
"I'll see you around, Gerard," Frank says, still smiling. _Fuck._  
"Yeah, see you," Gerard replies, walking out of the room. "What the fuck," he mutters when he's alone in the hallway. "What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck."  
Friends. He can do friends.  


*

He can't do friends.  
Frank's bought him coffee twice now, and it's only his first week.  
The first time, Frank had popped his head into Gerard's classroom half an hour before the bell and asked him how he takes his coffee. Gerard had barely stuttured out a reply before Frank was gone again, returning ten minutes later to put a warm Starbucks cup on Gerard's desk.  
The second time is without any sort of warning- Frank had already put the cup in Gerard's hands and said "good morning" before Gerard could even register that it had happened.  
"Wait, Frank," Gerard says before Frank can walk away. Nervousness tugs at his stomach, but damn it, Frank's been buying him coffee and Gerard has to pay him back at some point.  
"I'll have to pay you back," Gerard starts, but Frank waves him off.  
"Don't worry about it," Frank tells him. "Unless..."  
"Unless?" Gerard asks.  
Frank looks at him for a moment and Gerard ignores the way his stomach flips.  
"Maybe you can return the favour in some other way."  
Gerard's mind instantly goes to all the wrong places.  
"Help me mark essays?" Frank asks.  
_Oh._ Marking essays is good. Okay.  
"Okay," Gerard says. "Um."  
"You busy tomorrow at lunch? I can meet you here," Frank adds, making Gerard almost gape at how easy it apparently is for Frank to ask to meet up. _Because it's not a date,_ Gerard's mind supplies before he realizes he hasn't answered the question yet.  
"Yeah," he gets out. "Yeah, that's good."  
Frank nods enthusiastically and makes towards the door.  
"Great. Looking forward to it," he says, smiling again, and _fuck_ , even Gerard can't deny the way his heart skips a beat.  
He manages to play it somewhat cool and say thanks for the coffee before the bell rings and Frank's out the door.  
Gerard looks at the empty classroom.  
"What the fuck," he says.  


*

"Gerard, you gotta stop," Mikey tells him over the phone that night.  
"Stop what?"  
"Freaking out, for one. And you've said 'what the fuck' about thirty times in the past five minutes."  
"But... I--" Gerard sputters. "Of course I'm freaking out! Why the fuck do I have a crush on my coworker with who I've had, like, two conversations with?"  
"With _whom_ ," Mikey says. "Maybe you should get Frank to give you English lessons."  
Gerard rolls his eyes. "You're completely ignoring what I'm saying."  
"Okay, right, your massive gay crush," Mikey sighs. "So you're seeing him tomorrow."  
"Yes."  
"Then let it happen. Just don't crash into him this time."  
"It wasn't--"  
"--wasn't your _goddamn fault_ , yeah, I know," Mikey interrupts. He's not laughing, but Gerard can tell he's amused by the whole thing. Little brothers, man.  
"Fine," Gerard sighs. "Let it happen."  
"Let it happen," Mikey repeats.  
Gerard nods, even though he's on the phone and Mikey can't see him. He nods again to reassure himself before he asks Mikey how he's doing.  
"Oh, there's this new band I've been checking out," Mikey says, and Gerard sits back to listen.  


*

The next morning, Gerard is late.  
So very late.  
"Shit shit shit," he tells his apartment once he realizes he's slept through his alarm. He scrambles out of bed and trips over himself twice before he's out of his bedroom.  
Ten minutes later, Gerard is bolting out the door with a half-eaten bagel in one hand and his satchel in the other. (Mikey used to call it The Man Purse, but soon stopped after Gerard's hour-long rant about gender roles and stereotypes.)  
He waits anxiously at the bus stop, shivering from the cold as he stuffs the rest of the bagel in his mouth.  
Once he's on the bus, it only takes him about five minutes to get to the school, only making him half an hour late instead of the full sixty minutes he expected.  
Rushing to the classroom door, Gerard hastily unlocks it before he realizes there isn't a class of students waiting for him in the hallway.  
The hallway, Gerard realizes, is actually empty.  
Well. Mostly empty, except for Frank, who just turned the corner (he looks just as hot as he did yesterday, if not more, which is just _unfair_ ).  
Frank catches his eye at that moment.  
"Gerard, hey," Frank says companionably, and suddenly Gerard is hyper-aware of how flustered he must look, if the amused expression on Frank's face is anything to go by.  
"You good?" Frank asks.  
Gerard scrambles for words. "Um. I... Did I miss my class? I don't know what to--"  
Frank starts laughing, not stopping when Gerard goes, "What? _What?_ "  
"Gerard," Frank says on an exhale, his eyes crinkling when he smiles, which makes Gerard die a little on the inside. "Didn't you remember you're one of the lucky teachers that has prep first period today?"  
"Prep," Gerard says dumbly.  
"Yeah, it's when you have a free period with no class--"  
"I _know_ what prep is, ugh," Gerard interrupts, exasperated, which only makes Frank giggle again.  
Gerard can't help but join in, absentmindedly running his hand through his hair and messing it up more. He doesn't miss the way Frank's eyes track the movement, and he stops breathing when Frank steps closer and murmurs, "You mismatched your button."  
He tries not to audibly swallow when he sees Frank's fingers undo the top button. He mostly succeeds, but he's pretty sure Frank can _feel_ his heartbeat, he's so close.  
Frank somehow manages to make buttoning a button look graceful, and when Gerard looks at his face Frank is looking up at the same time, and there's a moment of _holyshitholyshitholyshit_. Gerard unconsciously licks his lips, his heart leaping in his throat when Frank's gaze goes to his mouth, and _fuck_ , he's pretty sure Frank's leaning forward, and--  
" _Mr. Iero to the office please, Mr. Iero,_ " the speaker at the ceiling announces, making Gerard jump. _Fucking hell._  
Frank doesn't take his eyes off of Gerard's face, but he does step back after a long second.  
"Lunch," Frank says.  
"Lunch," Gerard replies, obviously breathless.  
Frank's lips quirk up before he walks away, saying, "Later, Gerard," and Gerard has to stop himself from whimpering in response.  
He closes the door when he gets inside his classroom and rests his forehead against it, his heart still thudding like he's a teenager.  
_You,_ Gerard tells himself, _are fucked_.  


*

Lunch comes way too fast.  
Second period has Gerard trying to teach his art class without thinking about Frank and failing. He manages to calm himself slightly down by third period, but when there are only five minutes left until lunch, he's back to being nervous.  
Gerard watches his students file out when the bell rings. His stomach drops when he hears one of them brightly say, "Hi, Mr. Iero," from the hallway.  
There's a brief moment of silence where Gerard's alone in the room before Frank strolls in, holding a stack of papers.  
"Hey," he says, smiling at Gerard before he even has a chance to compose himself, _motherfucker._  
"Hi," Gerard replies, mentally patting himself on the back for managing to sound casual. (It was only one syllable, but whatever, it's still an achievement.)  
"So, we," Frank says, "Are gonna be marking these." He holds up the stack of papers.  
"Sounds good," Gerard says as he looks for a pen.  
"Yeah, except, we're not doing it here," Frank continues. "We're going to the Starbucks across the street, because we're lucky enough to teach at a school that's not in the middle of nowhere. And we're taking advantage of it."  
Gerard stares.  
"That's right, get your coat," Frank laughs, and then he's out of the room, leaving Gerard with no choice but to grab his coat and follow him.  


*

When they sit down at a table, Frank plops the papers down and says, "wait here," before getting up and going to the counter to order something.  
As he waits, Gerard's thoughts decide to wander to that moment before lunch- _Was it a just moment, or, like, a Moment?_ \- but then he feels ridiculous so he studies the pattern on the table instead. His eyes go from the essays to out the window to Frank, who's leaning against the counter, waiting for his order.  
As if Frank feels him staring, he looks over at Gerard and smiles when their eyes meet. Gerard blinks and sharply turns away, feeling his cheeks turn red. Fuck.  
He feels the table shake a couple moments later as Frank sits down. With two coffees.  
"I--" Gerard says, pointing to the cup of coffee Frank is pushing towards him.  
"This one's on me," Frank says, and Gerard sighs in defeat, taking the cup from Frank.  
"Thanks," he squeaks, and he's probably blushing again. "Okay, um. What're the essays about?"  
"Right, so," Frank says, his eyes lighting up, "I got the kids to write about themselves as a superhero. Like, they can choose their powers or whatever, stuff like that." Frank rips open a packet of sugar and shakes it into his coffee.  
"The point of it is," he says, "it's kind of supposed to be like, these kids look up to superheroes a lot, you know? So if they wrote about themselves as superheroes, they can start learning to... Look up to themselves, in a way."  
Gerard's heart just about fucking melts and he only barely stops himself from saying _I love you_ or something equally stupid, because that's the most adorable thing he's ever heard. Frank takes his silence as confusion.  
"It doesn't make much sense, I know," Frank says, looking down at the table.  
"No, no," Gerard scrambles to find the right words. "That's just, like. Really fucking great. Seriously, it's awesome."  
He winces inwardly when he hears himself swear, but Frank just beams at him.  
"Thanks," he chuckles, and Gerard's heart does a weird fluttery thing.  
"You're an artist, right? Are you into the whole superhero thing?" Frank asks.  
"Oh yeah," Gerard says. "I haven't done it yet, but I want to draw my own comic. After I'm done standing in as the art teacher here. Maybe."  
Frank nods, and then smiles.  
"Do you have an idea for it yet?" he asks, and Gerard blushes at the thought of telling Frank about his idea, because he's fairly sure it's shit.  
"Come on, it's probably awesome," Frank prompts him, as if he heard what Gerard was thinking.  
"Well, um. Okay." Gerard coughs. "So."  
Frank shifts forward in his seat and waits for him to continue, his face eager.  
"It's set in 2019," Gerard starts, and the rest of the sentence comes easily with Frank looking at him so openly, along with the next sentence, and the sentence after that.  
He tells Frank a couple basic ideas before he falters, thinking he's talked too much, but Frank says, "No, please, keep going," and so he does.  


Gerard only realizes they haven't marked a single essay when there are 10 minutes left of lunch.  
"Shit, sorry," he says, checking his watch. "I've been talking this entire lunch."  
"It's perfectly okay," Frank says, smiling. His chin is resting in his hand, his voice actually kind of _dreamy,_ and Gerard has to blink a couple of times so he doesn't just start gazing at him like some sort of lovesick puppy. What the fuck.  
"Really? We didn't do any of the work, though," he manages to say.  
Frank's smile stays in place as he says, "Nah, man, don't worry about it. I liked listening to you. It's gonna be great when you write it."  
"Um. Wow. I mean," Gerard stutters. "Thanks."  
Frank keeps on looking at him with that _smile,_ and if he doesn't stop soon Gerard's gonna fucking, explode, or something.  
"We should, um. Get back to the school," he says, making a lame hand-waving motion in the general direction of the school.  
_Fuck._ Get it together.  


They stay in a comfortable silence on the walk back to the school until Frank has to go in the other direction to his classroom. Ms. Wellington's in the hallway with them, and she gives Gerard a somewhat judgemental look (Gerard hasn't even properly met her yet, what the fuck is her deal) as they walk by.  
Frank's hand brushes Gerard's elbow, just barely. Then he softly says, "Bye, Gerard," in the quiet of the almost-empty hallway before walking away, leaving Gerard breathless as he unlocks his door.

*

"Mikey. Mikeymikeymikey," Gerard says, flopping down on the couch with his phone.  
"Mm-hm," Mikey says. "Anything else?"  
"Mikey," Gerard repeats for good measure. "I'm screwed. What the fuck."  
There's a silence on Mikey's end.  
"What did Frank do now," he sighs finally.  
"We had coffee," Gerard tells him. "Coffee!"  
"Oh. Isn't that why you're helping him mark essays, to pay him back for coffee? Unless it was actually a date. Was it actually a date?"  
"No." Gerard sighs, then groans. "No, it was just so I could help him mark essays."  
"Huh," Mikey says. "Maybe that's what English teachers do on dates."  
Gerard doesn't say anything, contemplating his pitiful existence.  
"Maybe he has a secret fetish for essays," Mikey says.  
"Mikey!"  
Mikey, damn him, laughs over the phone.  
"Oh, God, what if he does?" Gerard asks after a couple seconds.  
"Have an essay fetish? Doubt it, Gee."  
"Yeah," Gerard says. "He's too hot for that. It's, like, against the rules for a hot person to have a really weird fetish."  
"Uh-huh." Mikey sounds doubtful.  
There's a moment of silence before he asks, "So how did it go, anyway?"  
"He asked me about my comic," Gerard replies. "And, like. I totally overshared, shit."  
"How?"  
"I talked about the plot and stuff for a little bit, and then he asked me about it some more, and then all of a sudden lunch was over." Gerard puts his face in his hands. "He's probably weirded out now."  
"Wait," Mikey says. "You talked about it a little, and then he asked you to keep talking?"  
"Yeah," Gerard answers into his palm.  
"And he didn't even try and get started on the essay marking or anything?"  
"Um. No..?" Gerard says.  
"He wants to get in your pants," Mikey says immediately.  
"I-- Wait, what?" Gerard splutters.  
"He wants to get in your pants," Mikey repeats.  
Gerard stares at the ceiling, blinks, and says, "I don't think so, Mikes."  
"He does, he wants to sweep you off your feet and be your Prince Charming and have lots of dogs and babies."  
"No, he-- How'd you know he's a dog person?"  
"Ha! You see?" Mikey exclaims with more enthusiasm than Gerard thought was possible. He wonders if something's up with him.  
"Well, are you gonna be seeing him again?" Mikey asks.  
"Nothing's planned right now," Gerard says cautiously before he remembers. "Wait, shit! Tomorrow's the last day before the winter break. We have to, like, monitor a school dance."  
"Dance with him," Mikey says.  
"Um. No," Gerard replies. "Look, enough about all this, tell me what's been going on with you. You actually sounded enthusiastic back there, I'm worried."  
Gerard swears he can _hear_ Mikey's eyeroll from the other end. He smiles as he listens to Mikey talk about home and tries not to feel too lonely.  


*

Gerard talks to Lindsey and Brendon again in the morning and at lunch, but he doesn't see Frank until fifth period.  
He's not exactly sure what to expect- Gerard assumes that monitoring the dance will just mean stand around and make sure the kids don't accidentally trample each other.  
When Frank meets him in the hallway, he voices this assumption to him. Frank nods.  
"Yeah, that's basically it," Frank says. "They can get a little crazy when their favourite songs come up."  
They have to get the kids in lines so they don't all just pile into the gym. They're all chattering excitedly among each other, and Gerard notices some of the fourth graders looking at the fifth graders with a sort of awe, like _whoa, the big kids!_  
Once the dance starts, Gerard leans against the wall by the door. It gets hot in the gym pretty fast, and Gerard's glad he didn't wear a sweater.  
"Mr. Waaay," a group of fourth graders say to him when the dance is almost over. "Dance with us!"  
Gerard laughs. "Sorry, I don't dance."  
"Please?" asks a little boy who's in his morning art class, and he's looking up at Gerard with this adorable look on his face.  
Fuck, Gerard's never been able to resist little kids.  
"Okay," he says reluctantly. "Only a little dance, alright? I've got to supervise all of you."  
The kids cheer and two of them take his hands into their little ones. They laugh when Gerard spins them gently around, careful not to bump them into the other kids.  
He spins each of them around in turn, to their requests, surprising himself when he finds that he's having fun.  
When Gerard goes back to his spot on the wall, he smiles and waves at the the kids before they disappear in the crowd to dance with the others.  
At that moment, he looks up to the opposite side of the gym. He sees Frank leaning against the wall, his arms casually crossed.  
And he's looking right back at Gerard. There's a smile on his face, slow and secret, like it's something only he and Gerard are sharing. Gerard inhales sharply and averts his eyes just as the song switches to something much slower. The kids slow down, too; some of them awkwardly standing around, others getting in circles with their friends and swaying gently, a few pairing up and giggling as they try not to step on each other's feet.  
Gerard can't help it- his eyes go back to Frank, who's biting his lip and looking down at the floor. A second later he's looking back up at Gerard again through his eyelashes, his lip slipping from between his teeth. There's a look in his eyes that makes Gerard shiver and forget about all his surroundings, everything except Frank. He swallows thickly, unable to look away; he's frozen in place. Frank looks almost _predatory_ , and fuck, Gerard's loving every second of it.  
He doesn't know what he might've done if the song hadn't ended right then. But it does, and whatever trance Frank had him in is interrupted by the lights coming back on and the kids exclaiming loudly at the sudden brightness.  
Gerard lets out a shaky breath and looks away, getting the kids into sort-of-lines so they can exit the gym. By the time the bell rings, signalling the end of the day, he doesn't see Frank anywhere. He says goodbye to the kids who run up and hug him, and then he's off towards his classroom to pack his things up for the break.  


*

Gerard's phone rings just as he's put all the paintbrushes back. He checks the screen and sees that it's Mikey.  
"Look out your window," Mikey says as soon as Gerard picks up.  
"What?" Gerard says, but he looks out the window anyway. He sees Mikey there, leaning against his car, waving at him.  
"Mikey! What're you doing here?" Gerard asks. "Fuck, I'm so glad to see you," he adds, because he's missed him and Mikey's giving him a shit-eating grin that's contagious.  
"I figured I'd surprise you," Mikey says, the movement of his mouth and his words slightly mismatched from the delay of the phone. "We can go for some celebratory winter break coffee."  
"I fucking _love_ you," Gerard tells him. "I'll be out in a sec, wait up."  
He hangs up and turns around, and then stops short.  
Frank's standing shyly at the door, his hands in his pockets. Gerard feels nervousness tingle at his gut, the memory of the way Frank looked at him earlier still fresh in his mind. He distantly notices, though, that Frank's usual cheer is a little faded, the smile only half-there. He speaks before Gerard can ask him anything about it.  
"So," Frank says, stepping into the classroom. Gerard pretends his heartbeat doesn't pick up when Frank comes closer.  
"So," Gerard echoes.  
"You're coming back to teach after the break, right?"  
"Yeah," Gerard says, maybe a little too quickly. He clears his throat. "I mean, um. I'm here until the end of the year."  
Frank nods and looks down. "And after that you're leaving." His voice is soft and it's not a question.  
"I am, yeah." Gerard says it quietly, almost scared to break the silence in the room. Frank looks up and meets his eyes again.  
"What about over the break, are you staying here, or..?"  
Gerard doesn't dare to think that Frank looks hopeful.  
"I think I'm staying here for a bit. At least, until Christmas Eve or something, then I'm probably--" Gerard breaks off when he sees Frank take another step towards him, bringing them closer together. "--staying with Mikey," he finishes, his voice breathy even to his own ears.  
By now Frank's close enough that if Gerard leaned forward he could kiss him. He tries not to think about it, but now that he's started he can't stop, and he's _almost_ leaning forward when Frank looks out the window at the parking lot.  
"You've got someone waiting for you," Frank says, his voice low. Gerard's heart sinks as Frank steps away, not meeting his eyes anymore.  
"Frank," Gerard says softly.  
Frank looks up and they stare at each other for a moment. Then Frank smiles again.  
"Merry Christmas, Gerard," he says, taking another backwards step.  
_Do something,_ Gerard's mind screams at him.  
"Merry Christmas," he says.  
He watches as Frank nods and turns away. His eyes follow the line of Frank's shoulders when he walks out the door, and then he's gone.  
_You fucking idiot_ , Gerard thinks. _Fuck._

*

"Come here," Gerard says to Mikey when he's in the parking lot, pulling him in for a hug. He gets a face full of Mikey's scarf.  
"I can't believe you drove all the way here," Gerard says when he pulls away.  
"I'm your brother," Mikey replies, shrugging. "It's, like, a law."  
"You're my brother," Gerard agrees. Then he freezes. "You're my _brother_ ," he says.  
"Uh, yeah," Mikey says, just as everything clicks into place.  
"Fuck. _Fuck_ , Mikey, I gotta-- Can you wait here for a bit? Sorry," Gerard says hurriedly, already making his way across the parking lot.  
Mikey has a really confused look on his face, but apparently he lets it slide. "Okay?"  
"I love you," Gerard says, and then he turns around and runs back to the school, throwing open the door and rushing to the hallway he knows Frank's classroom is in.  


When he gets to Frank's door, he finds it locked. The lights inside are turned off.  
" _Fuck,_ " Gerard says out loud.  
"You okay?"  
Gerard turns around and he sees Frank in his coat, standing by the exit door. All of Gerard's breath leaves him at once.  
"Frank," he says, still breathing hard from running all the way here. "Frank, I, um." Gerard realizes he has no idea what he was planning to say.  
Frank blinks. "Yeah?"  
"Um," Gerard says again. "Mikey's my _brother_ , he's not my boyfriend, he was waiting for me in the parking lot, and, he's." Gerard pauses. "He's my brother," he repeats.  
Frank opens his mouth to say something, but Gerard beats him to it.  
"And it's almost Christmas, okay, and I know if I didn't say this now I'd regret it and I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it," Gerard rushes to say. "I mean, I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about you anyway, but."  
_Holy shit_ , Gerard thinks as he breaks off. _You did not just say that out loud._  
Then he thinks, _screw it_ , and continues.  
"What I'm asking you is, if you'd possibly consider, uh. Going out with me, sometime?"  
He's so nervous that the last part of the sentence comes out as a whisper, barely audible. Frank silently steps away from the door and Gerard's heart beats even faster, _fuck._  
"If you don't want to, that's okay, too, I--" Gerard says as Frank walks towards him.  
"Shut up," Frank whispers over his words, his hands tugging on Gerard's collar and closing the distance between them.  
Gerard makes a soft noise of surprise against Frank's mouth before he sighs and melts into the kiss, closing his eyes. He feels Frank's hands come up to gently hold Gerard's face as he presses closer. The feeling of Gerard's back meeting the wall registers somewhere in his mind and he bunches his hands in Frank's jacket to keep him close.  
Frank ends the kiss, or he almost does, because a second later he's leaning in again to kiss Gerard sweetly.  
"So that's a yes, then?" Gerard asks quietly.  
Frank laughs under his breath, pulling back, but only slightly. He looks up at the ceiling, and Gerard follows his eyes.  
There's mistletoe right over their heads. Gerard giggles at the sheer sappiness of it all, feeling giddy.  
"That's a yes," Frank murmurs before he leans in for another kiss.  


*

"And then he kissed me and there was _mistletoe_ , and I can't believe I actually told him, holy _shit_ ," Gerard is gushing to Mikey in the car.  
"You've already mentioned the mistletoe," Mikey says as he drives.  
"Sorry," Gerard says. "I'll buy you your coffee to make it up to you."  
"Damn right you are," Mikey agrees.  
When they get their coffees, Mikey tells him about what's been going on back at home, just like all their phone calls, except in person. He wiggles his eyebrows when Mikey mentions "this dude named Pete", because that's his duty as big brother, and Mikey punches him in the shoulder.  
It feels like home.  


**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is, as always, greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!! <3


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